Californians woke up to incomplete election results today that showed a startling result: In several key House districts, the top two spots (which will proceed to face off in the general election) were both filled by Republicans or Republican-leaning independents. Will voters be forced to choose between two Republicans to represent them in November?
No, they won’t, say The Argument’s Lakshya Jain and VoteHub’s Zachary Donnini in today’s live election coverage.
What’s happening in California is a mirage: Democratic constituencies’ ballots are the latest to arrive, and thus the latest to be counted.
“The late ballots are so blue that Democrats are almost certainly not getting locked out,” said Lakshya. “A lot of Democrats in California just straight up did not return their ballot until the last possible minute.”
While Democrats can take some comfort in this, disproportionate delays in vote counting lead to a large loss in voter trust.
If initial results show “we’re getting two Republicans here, then all of a sudden, one week later, you see the Democrats surge to first place, the first thing a lot of people are going to think is that it’s not legitimate,” Lakshya explained. “Obviously, that’s ridiculous, it is legitimate, but at the same time, I have sympathy.”
“People have a right to be informed on elections,” he added.
Watch the full video above to learn more about how specific races are shaking out — and how California’s banana republic voting system hurts democracy.
